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(10/10/2001) a God of second chances


Hello prayer warriors, 1. Prayer note: a God of second chances [Matthew 20:9] And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. The above story was part of a parable by Jesus. The master of the vineyard went out to get workers. The workers that came first and the workers that came at the eleventh hour got the same wages. It did not seem fair. Guess what? We are the eleventh hour generation now. God has given us special favour and special grace. And God isn't fair in that sense because we have special favour. The great exchange has taken place and Jesus has become a curse for us that we may be accepted by Him. Many people still do not understand this. The recent World Trade Center tragedy brought many emails to my mail box, some of which are prophecies of doom, gloom and judgement saying that God is punishing the people of America for their sins. I did not feel comfortable reading them because God does not send evil to His people to punish them. God is just and yet He loves us. That was why we see people being punished in the Old Testament. He loves us but He is just. In the new Testament, we see a slightly different story. For example, I was recently reading the story of Samson in the Old Testament. Samson seemed to be taking so many wrong turns. He went to prostitutes. And yet, when I read about the account of Samson in the New Testament, I only learn of his heroism. The account in the New Testament made no mention of his weaknesses. [Hebrews 11:32-33] 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Similarly, in the New Testament Abraham was called a man of faith who did not waver when God promised him a son. We all know what happened to Abraham. He gave in to his weakness when he saw no son forthcoming and took matters into his own hand by taking his wife's maid to help get him a son. What had changed? Did God change? No, it is the same God with the same loving and yet just character. This was also what my pastor called "God's dilemma". God solved this dilemma by sending us Jesus. What had changed in the timeline was Jesus. Jesus became the place of exchange and took the punishment of our sin. God does not judge us now because sin has been punished through Jesus. God will not send calamity and judgement and remove all evil now because the time of judgement is not now. Humanity is given a second chance and the gospel is to be preached to all nations because God desires that all will be saved. Jesus came to show us the heart of God. He came to give us the right interpretation of God. For example: Old Testament: [Deuteronomy 6:13] Thou shalt FEAR the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. New Testament: [Matthew 4:10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt WORSHIP the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Jesus gave us a new understanding of the scriptures and of the character of God. For example we received the right interpretation of the FEAR of the Lord by Jesus as WORSHIP. That is the difference between a Christian and other religions. Other people still believe in a holy God that they have to fear and sin have to be punished. We believe that sin is already punished and we are already accepted in the Beloved. The main difference is one Man and His Name is Jesus. Do you want to know what Jesus taught His disciples on judgement and punishment? [Luke 9:52-56] 52 And He sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. If we understand the heart of God and what He has promised in this One Man, Jesus, we would stop accepting judgement and guilt and start living as a son of God. We will stop letting guilt and judgement hinder us from making bold steps in God. We will start living knowing that we are accepted in the beloved and no matter how we have failed God, when we come to Him, we are accepted and we have a second chance at life. He did not come to destroy us but to save us. 2. New prayer requests: i. Please pray for my husband & our marriage. -- guest http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1986 ii. Need to be restored! -- guest http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1988 iii. covenant relationships in marriages -- guest http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1989 iv. Prayer for husband and daughter -- lisa101 http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1991 v. Found newest medical technology. Need your prayers. -- zipporah http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1992 vi. drug abuse - husband -- april1758 http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1994 vii. Christian American Aid workers in Kabul -- guest http://mydevotion.com/p.asp?tid=1995 3. Number of prayer warriors: 995 We welcome maxx, holy spirit, gary, jonelle purnell, hutchb4, confused, maguphe, hoho, dios es amor, lisaellenpratt, beg, willmay, kolekshuns, revelationwoman, beautifuljoy, yammie oke, hunter519, mom, 6595, llovlygirl, iloy, jeisal, formed4god22 and mthomp1595 into our prayer group. Please vote to encourage more visitors: http://mydevotion.com/mailvote.asp in Christ, Wai Hun
Wednesday, October 10, 2001 12:32:45 AM waihun
changed on Thursday, November 08, 2001 6:01:09 PM

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